What Happens When a Data Center Comes to Town

What Happens When a Data Center Comes to Town

April 15, Portsmouth, Ohio — By the time Merit Smith met me in his office at the Scioto County Courthouse in southern Ohio last Wednesday, he was out of breath and limping slightly—old knees, he said, as he sat back in his cherry leather chair.It was only 11 a.m., but he’d spent the entire morning lugging campaign yard signs around town in his blue Chevy pickup truck. Smith jokes he’s been “living in” the truck for the past few months as he camp…